Fernando Ramos da Silva

Fernando Ramos da Silva (29 November 1967 – 25 August 1987) was a Brazilian actor who became known for his role in Hector Babenco's 1980 film Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco, a documentary-style account of the street children of Brazil. Da Silva became a controversial figure after the film's release and found it hard to separate himself from his depiction as the street assailant Pixote.

On 25 August 1987, da Silva was fatally wounded in an alleged shootout with police. Police reports claim that da Silva was resisting arrest, but there are conflicting reports from eyewitnesses who claim da Silva was unarmed.

Early life Born on 29 November 1967 in São Paulo, da Silva was the sixth of ten children. When he was eight years old, his father died, leaving him with his widowed mother and the rest of his siblings. They lived in a poor city called Diadema on the outskirts of São Paulo.

As the opening of Pixote states, his upbringing was similar to that of the role he would end up portraying. His mother received a pension of less than $10 a month. The family sold lottery tickets to generate a livable income.

Life after Pixote Da Silva's newfound success landed him a one-year contract on TV Globo in the prime-time soap opera O amor é nosso. However, he was soon fired, apparently for missing filming sessions, although his inability to read lines due to his illiteracy may have contributed to the perception that he was lazy.

Da Silva struggled to recapture his fame and eventually returned to the street life he had come from. In 1984, he was arrested on robbery charges in Diadema, one of several charges that would become a frequent occurrence for the former child star.

Da Silva married Maria Aparecida Venancia da Silva in 1985, with whom he had one daughter, Jacqueline.

Death and surrounding controversy On 25 August 1987, da Silva was shot by three policemen who claimed he had got into a shootout with them after being involved in a mugging. His sister challenged the official report, claiming that he was unarmed and had fled a police raid. While the police report stated that da Silva had been shot while resisting arrest, a forensic examination showed that he had been shot while lying on the ground. Both his wife and mother called the shooting "a police execution."

The story of Fernando Ramos da Silva is depicted in the 1996 biographical film Quem Matou Pixote?.